Fun and Games
by daughterofpearl
Summary: A quick bit of silliness with the Lunar Chronicles gang. I may post more games as it occurs to me and/or I'm taking requests.
1. Marco Polo

FUN AND GAMES

Cress and Thorne are wandering around the Rampion wearing blindfolds.

Cress: "Marco!"

Thorne: "Polo!"

Cinder and Kai are wandering around the Rampion wearing blindfolds.

Cinder: "Marco!"

Kai _smacks into wall_ : "Ow!"

Scarlet and Wolf are wandering around the Rampion wearing blindfolds.

Scarlet: "Marco!"

Wolf _whispering right in her ear_ : "Polo."

Scarlet _startled_ : Gaaah!

Cinder and Kai are wandering around the Rampion wearing blindfolds.

Kai: "Marco!"

Wolf _whispers right in his ear_ : "Polo."

Kai _startled_ : "Gaaah!

Cinder: "Psych!" She and Wolf high-five.


	2. Truth or Dare

TRUTH OR DARE

Levana had been defeated just hours before, choosing to jump off the ledge in the throne room rather than face being revealed as she truly was. Tomorrow, Selene and Winter would begin putting the pieces back together and help the Lunar nation figure out how to move forward. But tonight, the main team, four couples plus Iko, were gathered in a small reception chamber to share a meal, to rest and to celebrate.

The trouble was, nobody was really celebrating. Everyone seemed still in shock from the events of the past weeks. Everyone was thinking about what came next. Thorne felt that if they didn't all relax and have a little fun, at least for a while, they would all explode. So, he announced to the group, "Why don't we get this party started with a game from Earth. I don't know if Lunars have anything similar. It's called Truth or Dare."

Scarlet rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

Thorne pressed on. Here are the rules: We will draw for turns to ask. The asker can choose anyone else in the room to ask truth or dare. All dares must be performed in this room within five minutes. If a dare is not completed, then a penalty will be decided by the rest of the group. The penalty will almost certainly be more embarrassing than the original dare.

"What happens if a person says truth?" Ze'ev asked.

"The asker can ask a question and the person has to answer truthfully."

"How can you tell they're telling the truth?" Jacin pressed.

"Sometimes you can ask for proof. Sometimes you can just look them in the eye and know whether they are lying." Thorne answered.

"So, the truth part is not really enforceable." Ze'ev observed.

"Actually, I have a way to tell if someone is lying." Cinder replied.

They all looked toward Thorne who was shuffling a deck of cards. "Everyone draw a card," he instructed. "Rank and suit will determine the order for turns." They all drew and Thorne made a mental list of the order.

Thorne took the lead: "So, King of Diamonds goes first. Winter? Ask anyone Truth or Dare."

"Jacin, Truth or Dare?" Winter said in her sing-song voice.

"Truth, I suppose." Was Jacin's bored reply.

"Is it true that you love me?" Winter asked.

"Well, yes. Of course." Jacin answered flatly.

"Well was that illuminating." Cinder tossed out to no one in particular.

"Cinder, you are so good at sarcasm!" Iko gushed.

"Well, I'm next, so it is about to get more fun." Thorne cut in. He looked at each of them in turn, raising an eyebrow at Cinder, quirking a smile at Cress. "Hmmm," he muttered as he looked at Kai. Finally he said, "Scarlet. Truth or Dare?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes and then, planting her hands on her hips, called out "Okaaay. Dare!"

Thorne grinned wickedly. "My kinda girl! I dare you to sit on Z's lap and kiss him for…three minutes."

Scarlet and Ze'ev both blushed and Z's eyes were wide. "In front of everyone?" he said.

"That's what makes it a dare," Thorne replied.

Scarlet shrugged and smiled at Ze'ev. "Is kissing so bad?" Ze'ev turned his gaze toward her and gave her a little half smile, holding his arms and hands open. Scarlet sat on his lap and he steadied her with an arm around her waist and one across her legs. Scarlet held his head in her hands and planted a light kiss on his forehead. As her lips touched him Z froze, becoming perfectly still. Moving one hand under his chin, she kissed him on the cheek. Her hands slid to his shoulders as her lips trailed tiny kisses down to his jaw, causing Z to draw in a sharp breath. Scarlet rested her forehead against his, nose to nose, their lips so close. Finally Ze'ev could take no more teasing. He captured her lips with his. The first kiss light as a butterfly wing. As he moved one hand up into her curls, the other encircled her waist, pulling her closer into him. He pressed another kiss, more firmly, and then deepened it as Scarlet's lips parted, yielding to him.

"Three minutes are up," Cinder said in a husky voice. Scarlet and Z continued another 10 seconds or so before finally drawing back a little. They gazed a long moment into each other's eyes before turning to look at the rest of the team. Everyone looked a little flushed, as if the room had suddenly gotten several degrees warmer. Kai's mouth was open slightly, as if her were having trouble breathing and Cress looked a little shaky.

After an awkward moment, Thorne said, "You owe me one Ze'ev." Scarlet suddenly looked from Thorne to Z and back again. Ze'ev looked as surprised and shocked as she did.

"Was that a set-up?" Scarlet was practically yelling as she jumped up from Ze'ev's lap.

Ze'ev answered her, "No. It was not. And I do not owe Thorne anything. But I think he owes you an apology."

Thorne relented with a nod to Ze'ev. "Sorry Scarlet. It's just so much fun to get a rise out of you." Turning to the rest, he said, "Who's next? Iko, you had the Jester in Spades, I believe? You're up."

Iko immediately called to Kai, in a voice a bit too loud and shrill, "Your Majesty! Truth or Dare?"

Kai, gave a small glance to Cinder, then a little smile toward Iko before answering, "I better play it safe. Truth."

Iko look very disappointed. Then she grinned mischievously. "Boxers or briefs?"

Kai's ears turned pink. Cinder was clearly struggling to stifle a laugh. Kai scrunched up his face and said, "Boxers."

"Really?" Cinder said before she covered her nose and mouth with hands, as if she couldn't believe she had spoken.

"What do you mean by that?" Kai asked asked, somewhere between embarrassment and insult.

"I don't know," Cinder replied, looking down at the floor. "Somehow I would have thought briefs."

"You mean you had thought about it?" Kai asked. He was grinning now, and getting redder by the minute.

"I want proof!" Iko squealed.

"Cinder, tell Iko I am telling the truth."

"Actually, your Majesty, I am having trouble getting a reading." Cinder replied with a grin. "I think we need proof from you."

"Oh for all the stars!" Kai muttered. His face now turning as red as a New Year lantern, Kai pulled part of the waistband of his underwear above the waistband of his pants, so that it could be seen that he was indeed wearing boxers. Not only that, but they were black with red hearts on them.

Iko's squeal was even more ear-splitting than usual. "That's so cute!" Winter giggled. Jacin looked appalled. Thorne and Scarlet sniggered. Cinder's face was frozen in in mirthful surprise. Ze'ev chuckled at the Emperor's discomposure.

Deciding to rescue Kai, Cinder exclaimed, "Who's next?"

Thorne was grinning wickedly. The game was getting good. "Scarlet drew the Jester in Clubs. So she is next."

Scarlet's eyes darted around the room, a secret smile on her face. "Thorne," she called. "Truth or Dare?"

Thorne raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Dare, always!"

"I dare you to remain absolutely silent for five minutes," Scarlet answered with a grin.

Thorne laughed. "Is that a forfeit?" Ze'ev asked.

Thorne stopped laughing. Then took in a deep breath, exhaling sharply.

"He's still not silent," Ze'ev observed, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

Thorne became still and silent. But then, his nose twitched. He had to sneeze. He just had to. He did. I big loud blast.

"Bless you." Cress said politely.

"Thank you." Thorne replied.

"Forfeit!" Cinder called out with glee.

"That doesn't count! It was involuntary!"

"That last statement wasn't involuntary," Scarlet chortled.

Thorne raised his hands in defeat. "Okay. Fine. I forfeit. Do your worst."

Cress grinned. "I have an idea she said." The others gathered around her as she explained. When Scarlet and Cinder burst out laughing and even Ze'ev was grinning wide enough to show the points of his teeth, Thorne knew he was in for an embarrassing time. Cress walked over to a nearby netscreen hanging on the wall and called up a program.

"So, what is my fate?" Thorne asked.

"Five minutes of Country Line Dancing," Cress replied with a grin. "Just follow this program."

Part way into it, Thorne grabbed Cress as his partner and they went swinging around and do-si-do-ing together. By the end of it, even Jacin was grinning.

"Well that was fun." Thorne called out, smiling. "Let's see, who's next? Kai, you have the Nine of Hearts. You're up!"

"Cinder!" Kai called. "Truth or dare?"

"I better play it safe." Cinder said with a grin. "Truth!" Kai looked disappointed. Then he had to pause a moment, because he hadn't thought of a truth question to ask.

"Hmmmmm. Would you still love me if I weren't the Emperor anymore?" Kai mused.

"Of course!" Cinder replied.

"So you admit you love me now?" Kai teased.

"Yeah. I guess I just did." Cinder said softly with a smile.

"That was two questions," Winter cut in.

"Yes it was," Thorne agreed. "Z, you're up next."

"Scarlet. Truth or Dare?" Z announced while everyone else rolled their eyes at his predictability.

Scarlet gave him a knowing smile. "Dare."

"I dare you to feed me tomatoes for five minutes!" Ze'ev said, grinning wide.

Scarlet huffed. "Okay. You got me. A dare is a dare." She got the platter of tomatoes from the buffet table and carried it over to where Ze'ev was sitting, then began feeding him one bite at a time like a First Era slave girl feeding an emperor. They just smiled at each other and the rest of the crew couldn't help smiling at how cute they were.

"I think it is safe for the rest of the pack to play while the wolf mates are occupied." Thorne announced.

"Are you implying that they are the alpha leaders of this group?" Jacin interjected, bristling at the idea.

"Nope. Just kidding." Thorne replied, rolling his eyes at Jacin's lack of humor. "Cinder, you're up."

"Iko, truth or dare?" Cinder said immediately. Kai suddenly looked worried.

"Dare!" Iko nearly shouted.

"I dare you to kiss Kai for one minute." Cinder said gleefully.

"Only one minute?" Iko asked pouting.

"I think that is all he can stand." Cinder said, almost cracking up in laughter at the horrified look on Kai's face. The pink was spreading from his ears to his cheeks.

Kai stood very stiff as Iko ran her fingers through his hair and began kissing him all over his face. She tried to kiss him passionately on his lips, which were clamped tight.

"Time's up!" Cinder called.

"Next time, I hope you won't be so tense, Your Majesty." Iko sighed.

"Next time?" Kai asked weakly.

"Jacin! Your four of spades puts you next." Thorne called out."

"Do Earthen really play such stupid games?" Jacin asked acidly.

"You're supposed to call out a person and asked them Truth or Dare before asking your question." Thorne informed him.

"Scarlet. Truth or Dare?" Jacin said to everyone's surprise.

"Um. Truth?" Scarlet said cautiously.

"Did you play this game when you were growing up on Earth?"

"Yes. Um, Earthens like to be silly sometimes. It's part of being human. You should try it sometime." Scarlet replied, a bit put off by Jacin's attitude.

"My friend is right," Winter added. "You should lighten up sometimes, Jacin. Especially now that Levana has been defeated."

Suddenly Jacin smiled a brilliant smile. As if it had just hit him that he didn't have to hide his feelings behind a face of stone anymore.

Glad that the momentary tension had eased, Thorne announced, "And last but never least, Cress!"

"Truth or Dare, Captain?" Cress called with no hesitation.

"Dare, always!" Thorne answered.

"I dare you to try five minutes of the Latin dance program!" Cress answered with a big smile.

Thorne gave her that crooked half smile that she loved so much. "You're on!" he replied.

Cress called up the program and she and Thorne began awkwardly trying to follow the steps.

The others, deciding it looked kind of fun decided to join in. Finally, the celebration was starting.


	3. Chess

**Author's Notes:**

 **I revised this from an earlier post of this chapter. It is now a bit less OOC, I think.**

 **I can't figure out how to make this one funny, but I still want to share the story with you all.**

 **To make up for this one not being funny, it will be immediately followed by a funny drabble as Chapter 4.**

CHESS

Cress had an idea for how to get intel from the Lunar network to the Rampion without being detected or having the signal traced. She was going to use Levana's own spy network against her. But she had to work slowly and cautiously, scrambling each signal several times over to avoid detection. This meant that every move took time as she waited for the response before she could make the next move. It was slow, tedious going.

She didn't want to waste any bandwidth on downloading games or entertainments, but she discovered the ship's computer had a chess program, just the thing to keep her mind and body sharp while she waited for responses. Unfortunately, the computer player routines were very predictable. She won three games in 10 minutes. Then she noticed Thorne leaning against the cockpit door, watching her. His vision had mostly returned and was getting sharper every day. "Do you play Chess," she asked?

"Not really. There were some guys in the military who were into it, but it never caught my interest."

"That looks sort of familiar." Cress and Thorne startled and then looked up to where Wolf's voice had come. They hadn't heard him enter and climb up on a stack of crates.

"How long have you been up there?" Thorne asked.

"About twenty minutes. I was hoping to see if Cress had managed to gather any intelligence from Luna." He took a sip from a glass of thick white liquid and made a face.

"What are you drinking there?" Thorne asked.

"The packet said it was a protein supplement. It tastes awful, but I need more protein. I need to be in top condition and ready to face whatever we run into on Luna." He turned his attention back to the chess board on the netscreen. "So, is that grid some sort of battle plan?"

Cress was glad to see Wolf up and about, but it was clear that all of his energy was focused on rescuing Scarlet. Nothing else mattered for him. She was a bit embarrassed to admit that she had been playing a game. "No. It is a game, I'm afraid, based on Second Era military strategy, actually," she answered, feeling her face grow warm. "I am attempting to hack into the Lunar network, but the work requires a lot of patience and waiting. A game like chess can usually help calm my nerves and keep my mind focused. But the virtual player for this program isn't much of an opponent."

"So playing this game helps you in your hacking work?" Wolf asked.

"It does." Cress answered.

"I may not present any better challenge than the virtual player, but I'm willing to give it a try, if it will help." Wolf said, in his shy and quiet way.

Wolf jumped down from the crate, and stood in front of the netscreen, rocking on the balls of his feet like he was preparing to fight an actual battle. Cress reviewed the rules and objectives of the game, and then they played. Cress won, but it was a little harder than playing the computer, mostly because Wolf had an odd style of playing that she had never encountered before and couldn't quite figure out. After her victory, Cress told him about the fitness program she had set up with Little Cress. She could swear one corner of Wolf's mouth quirked up the teensiest bit, like he almost smiled.

"Actually, I could use the exercise, he said. What is my penalty?"

"Well, I don't, um…, can you do pushups without pulling out your stitches?"

Wolf dropped down into the starting position. "How many?"

"20?"

"50," Wolf grunted as he started down on the first. After about ten the regular way, he put his left arm behind his back and did five one-armed, then switched arms for five more. After another ten regular, he started vaulting from his hands completely off the floor and clapped before landing and lowering, his body straight as a board the whole time. The last set, he pushed off and then tilted toward one side, on one toe and one arm while the other arm stretched toward the ceiling, alternating sides. On the very last one, he pushed his entire body off the floor, balancing on his hands, arms extended and his body perfectly straight. Then touched his toes to the floor, curled into a crouch and stood gracefully.

Cinder and Kai had come into the cargo bay during his exhibition and now stood with their mouths hanging open, as was Cress.

"Well, that was entertaining," Thorne commented. "But, perhaps you should leave the extravagant displays of manliness to me." Wolf flicked an irritated glance toward Thorne. Just then, a soft ping sounded.

Cress turned toward the console and her fingers flew over the screen, typing instructions. The others just saw a rapid scroll of incomprehensible letters and numbers. After a few minutes, Cress's fingers stopped and her eyes scanned the screen and then nodded. As she turned toward the group, everyone let out a collective exhale.

"Did you find anything or has someone found us?" Cinder asked.

"I have broken through the firewall and sent a probe, looking for a particular type of feed signal. It will be awhile yet before I have anything."

"You broke through the firewall of the Lunar network?"

"No. The European Union. Now, my probe is looking for a Lunar surveillance signal going back the other way. Your plan of moving the wedding so that Earthen ships will be going to Luna gave me the idea actually."

"That's brilliant Cress." Cress had only ever gotten abuse from her previous mistress, no matter her accomplishments. She blushed at Cinder's praise. "Actually, I came in to ask if you know why my net feed is running so slowly, but I think that question is answered."

"I'm using decoy feeds and scrambling everything. I would recommend not accessing the net unless it is absolutely necessary. I hope to have established a secure connection to the lunar network by later today. Well, _relatively_ secure."

Cinder nodded and then grinned. "So what does Wolf doing pushups have to do with his plan?" Cress explained again about how nerve-wracking and tedious it was waiting and how playing the chess game helped and Wolf helping and the exercise routine.

"Do either of you play?" Cress asked of Cinder and Kai. They both shook their heads. "Would you be up for another game Wolf? I think with practice, you could become a good player."

"I will do whatever I can to help plan our landing and find Scarlet." Wolf answered solemnly.

The next game ended in a stalemate, after which Cress did 10 burpees and Wolf did 30 with no special variations for Thorne to tease him about. When Cress noticed Wolf rub a spot on his chest, she asked, "Did you pull your stitches?"

Wolf felt under his shirt. "No. The wounds are mostly healed but still a little sore."

Cress nodded and said, "Well, you should probably take it easy. We don't want you to reinjure yourself." She looked toward the netscreen. Still no response from her last query. "Another game?"

"Sure."

Again, it was a stalemate. Cress' experience of opponents was limited to programmed strategies based on chess masters. This was the first time she had actually played a live opponent, and the way he thought about the board and the pieces was different from anything she had encountered before. She suggested Tai Chi for the exercise. Cress tried to demonstrate what she could remember of the flowing graceful moves. Then Wolf said, "Oh. I think I know that. Like this." He then demonstrated a quick series of flowing moves, like the Tai Chi she remembered but much faster.

"Like that but much slower," Cress responded.

He began helping Cress step through the moves when Cinder joined them. "I used to watch people in the park doing this in New Beijing. It always seemed so peaceful and graceful." She looked over to where Kai was sitting, but he gave a shake of his head: not interested.

Then Wolf said, "No, center your weight and then extend little by little," talking to Cress. He put his hand on the small of her back and his other hand under her arm, guiding it.

"Watch out girls." Thorne announced. "Wolf can be quite a flirt when he wants to be."

Wolf looked up toward Thorne, hurt in his eyes. "You think I'm….FLIRTING?" He took a step toward Thorne, threatening. "I am not like you. I don't need to seek attention constantly. Cress and Cinder and I are friends. We are behaving like friends. That is all! And, for that matter, Cress and Cinder are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves who they want to pay attention to. Get over yourself, Thorne!"

"I'm just joking! YOU are telling ME to get over myself? Look who can't take a joke! Who's always moping around, setting everyone on edge afraid you'll go all lunatic again. And it's not like we aren't under enough strain what with trying to start a revolution and everyone on Earth and Luna hunting for us. I understand your traumatic childhood has you wound a bit tight, but you have got to stop taking yourself so seriously!" Cress was afraid Wolf was going to hit him. Cinder and Kai were looking back and forth between them, not sure what to do about the situation.

Suddenly, a soft ping sounded, breaking through the tension. They all turned toward the netscreen, the quarrel forgotten for the moment. Cress spend the next few minutes rapidly typing at the netscreen, with lines of garbledegook scrolling by. Finally, she stopped and the screen cleared except for a blinking prompt. Cress exhaled and then turned toward them.

"So?" Wolf asked cautiously.

"Getting closer." Cress answered.

Wolf turned back toward Thorne, who had taken a defensive stance, ready to block a punch.

Suddenly, Cress spoke up. "There is something I would like you two do for me, if you can let go of your silly quarrel." They both turned toward her, both seemed relieved to have something else to focus on. I would like to observe Wolf and the Captain playing a game of Chess. To make it more interesting, we will make it speed chess. You each get a ten minute clock. When you move, your clock stops and your opponent's begins to run down. So, you can win by checkmate, or you can win if your opponent runs out of time. Also, the winner chooses an exercise for the loser as we have been doing. I will choose an activity for both of you in the event of a stalemate."

Cress picked up Thorne's deck of cards, shuffled and asked them to draw. Wolf drew an Ace of Hearts, while Thorne drew a Ten of Diamonds. "Wolf, choose your side."

"Black." Cress nodded as if she expected this, but Thorne was puzzled. He would never have given up the initiative.

Thorne made the typical King's pawn opening. He was then surprised when Wolf ignored this and moved out the Queen's Bishop's Pawn. Thorne continued trying the basic opening moves he had learned long ago, and Wolf continued to ignore these gambits, deploying pieces in some scheme of his own. Wolf took Thorne's bishop with his knight. When he moved the knight back to its original defensive position on his next turn, Thorne became wary. Why wasn't he advancing? Whenever Thorne was a move or two from posing some actual danger to the King, or the Queen for that matter, Wolf blocked or removed the attacking pieces in the least expensive way and then returned to defense, making Thorne come to him. Finally, Thorne stopped trying fast attack moves. He stopped for a full minute, taking a long look at the board. Then he saw it. Wolf was not playing to win. He was playing not to lose. Big difference. He would have to force Wolf to engage, and set a trap somehow. All while Wolf would simply take any pieces that threatened and make simple defensive moves and even pointless moves, waiting for Thorne to break against his wall. Then Thorne noticed his clock was running down as he tried to think and realized that this WAS a winning strategy for speed chess. Wolf could simply run out his clock. He began to try putting together a more complex attack, planning two or three moves deep. That was as far ahead as he could think and Wolf always saw it coming. Meanwhile, Wolf continued to refuse any bait for deeper engagement, simply removing any threats and retreating. Wolf took Thorne's Queen while Thorne took a knight and a bishop. Still Wolf didn't take advantage, and remained strictly defensive. It was maddening! Finally, Thorne's clock ran out and Cress awarded Wolf the victory.

"You might have won if you had had more time," Wolf said to Thorne. "It was getting harder to cover the holes."

"You could be pretty good if you actually played to win," Thorne acknowledged with a grin. Wolf just shrugged.

"What? Oh!" Cress exclaimed. "That's what I couldn't figure out!" She looked at Wolf. "That strategy will not work anymore, now that the Captain has figured it out, I know how to beat you!"

"Ha!" Thorne laughed, grinning as he looked at the tiny girl challenging the giant soldier.

"I'm sure you will, Cress," Wolf said quietly, a slight curve of a smile touching his lips. "But first, Thorne! Fifty push-ups! Now!" Thorne proved that he could also do one handed push-ups and clapping push-ups. He wobbled a bit on the fly ones and didn't even attempt the two handed balancing maneuver, opting instead for a variation where he pulled his feet in while he pushed up, and then kicked back out as he lowered. Wolf gave a brisk nod as he completed the set.

"That was quite an extravagant display of manliness Captain," Cress said breathlessly. Thorne gave her his most flirtatious smile, and was satisfied when she smiled back, her eyes were wide and shining, all for him.

A ping sounded and they all turned toward the next screen. Cress's fingers danced a few moments and then the screen filled with a satellite photo of Artemesia and a few of the closest outer domes. "Can we zoom in?" Wolf asked.

"Not yet. This is an archive photo. I will try to trace it back to a live feed. But this will give us a start on planning our approach." Cress answered. Wolf looked wide-eyed, surveying each square inch of the photo as if seeking out a splash of ginger red hair. He was breathing in deeply as if he could somehow catch Scarlet's scent through the net feed.

"Yes, it is a start. Thank you." Wolf said softly.


	4. Waking Up

FUN AND GAMES CH. 2: WAKING UP TOGETHER

Not exactly a game, but it is cute and fun (IMHO).

Kai woke up next to Cinder. She was so beautiful and peaceful that he hated to wake her. But his need was becoming unbearable. And so, he nudged her a little. "Cinder? Cinder? Wake up!"

"What? What is it Kai?" Cinder mumbled sleepily.

"Your hand is caught on my hair. I can't move my head without pulling my hair out."

"Oh. Sorry. Here, hold still."

"Ow!"

"I'm sorry. It's gotten wrapped around a small screw. I'm gonna have to pull a little, and there! I think that did it."

"Thanks! Now, if you move your leg a little, then we unwrap the blanket from around my ankle…."

"Wait, it's wound the other way. Okay, now I can roll this way and pull the sheets out and now…, we're free. Good morning, Kai."

"Good morning, Cinder." He gave her a light kiss. It was the best morning ever.

Ze'ev woke up next to Scarlet. He began to carefully disentangle from himself from their cuddle, trying not to wake her. Scarlet grabbed his arm and tried to pull it back around her. "Stay," she mumbled without opening her eyes. "Still sleepy."

Wolf smiled softly at her. "You will do what you have to do." He peeled her hand from his arm and placed a sweet kiss against her wrist, where the blood pulsed beneath her skin. "I've got to pee."

Cress opened her eyes. Captain Thorne was looking at her, smiling. She smiled back. Then, they both suddenly covered their mouths and jumped out of bed. Thorne had remodeled the Rampion to have two bathrooms. He went to his bathroom and she to hers. She brushed her teeth and hair, scrubbed her face and moisturized. She skipped make-up since had never gotten the hang of it, and the Captain seemed to prefer her without it. She heard the shower going in his bathroom and knew he would be awhile. (She had showered the night before, knowing that her Captain would take all the hot water in the morning.) She got dressed and was checking her comms when she heard the shower stop. She was tempted to peek when she heard him come out of the bathroom and enter his room. (Naked? Wrapped in a towel?) Finally, he was at her open door, ready to begin the day. She stood up on her toes as he approached and bent for a light kiss. "Morning Cress."

"Good Morning Captain."

Jacin opened his eyes to find Winter straddling him, staring at him right in the face, so close they could almost kiss. He drew in a deep breath as he marshalled all his self-control. He turned his head to the side to avoid exhaling his morning breath in Winter's face as he suppressed his thoughts of how he would really like to respond to this situation. "Hey Trouble," he smiled at her. She continued to stare at him for another full minute, before rolling off him and stretching out beside him.

"What's a girl have to do to make your intentions less honorable? I've already auctioned of the Milky Way."

"Have an eighteenth birthday, for starters," Jacin answered. "And, we have to do something about your step-mother. And Aimery. And the fact that you're a princess and I'm a guard. Then maybe, just maybe mind you, I would reveal intentions as dishonorable as you could wish."

Winter gave him a sly look, as if to suggest that she could wish quite a lot. Then she sniffed dramatically, as if piqued. "But, after all that, nothing would be dangerous or dishonorable anymore." Winter whispered, sounding almost disappointed.

"Exactly." Jacin returned, smiling sweetly.


End file.
